Research Question: What are you trying to find out? Your research question reflects the main idea of your paper or assignment. It will guide every step of your research. The research you conduct is your attempt to answer this question.Choose a topic that you're interested in
Research is more fun and more relevant to your life if you care about what you're learning.
Keep it relevant
Read the assignment and make sure the topic you choose meets your instructor's requirements.
Find the question
LibNCSU (North Carolina State University). "Picking Your Topic IS Research!" Youtube, 1 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0B3Gjlu-1o.
Remember, it's a cycle...
1. Think of a topic
Your topic may change as you conduct research. Don't be afraid to revisit it!
2. Develop your search strategy
Before you start searching in library resources, make sure you know what to search for, where, and how!
3. Find resources and information
Locate scholarly articles and books on your topic. Going through the Library to do this will make your life easier!
4. Evaluate
Make sure the articles you find are: current, relevant to your topic, written by an expert author and for a scholarly audience, and written for the purpose of furthering the scholarly conversation (not for personal or financial gain).
5.Cite it!
Determine how each article or book sheds new light on your topic. What information do you learn from each resource that you didn't have before?
It's not a straight path...
Research is challenging. You will likely have to repeat every step in the process multiple times. Don't get discouraged if your first topic turns out to be too broad, or if your early searches don't turn up any information. But by starting out with a plan, and keeping a Librarian on call, you can avoid frustration.
Reference Source: A broad resource for basic facts and background. They offer a good entry point to the basic information you will need to learn as you start to explore your topic.
Reference sources include: Biographies, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Atlases, and Handbooks.
Why should you search for background information?
Basic facts: The articles you read and cite in your paper will assume you already know the basic facts about your topic. These are the people, dates, places, and laws related to it. You need to know these facts before you read academic articles to ensure you know what the writers are talking about!
Vocabulary & Keywords: Academic writing may use words and terms for a topic that are different from those we use every day. By researching the background of a topic, you'll learn which terms academic writers use to discuss your topic.
Narrowing you topic: Most students start off with a topic that's too big to cover in a five page paper. By doing thorough background research, you can identify sub-topics that might be easier to work with.
The following Library Resources will help you find Background Information:
The 4 Ws
Guide yourself through your Background Research by answering the following four questions:
Who
Who are the people or groups relevant to your topic? This can include companies or even fictional characters!
Example: If you're writing about video games, this might include gamers, game designers, Hideo Kojima, Blizzard, or even Nathan Drake.
What
What are the major events, laws, controversies, or issues related to your topic?
Example: If you're researching health care reform, this might include The Affordable Care Act, generic drug prices, or access to care.
When
When have major events happened to affect your topic? This can include dates, eras, or even age ranges relevant to your topic.
Example: If you're learning about school uniforms, this might include 1963, the early 2000s, or teenagers.
Where
Where are the places most affected by your topic? Which countries, regions, or states? Does your topic affect urban or rural regions more?
Example: If you're researching the minimum wage, this might include New York City, California, the Pacific North West, or urban centers.
If you need some help getting started...
Write your research question down. Underline the main ideas in that question.
Example: How does aging affect memory loss?
For each concept, make a list of keywords related to it. Use synonyms, and go back to your background research to find academic vocabulary and terms.
Example: Aging, elderly, seniors, aged, growing older, senescent, old age, geriatric...
Identify keywords with...
Academic OneFile's Visualization Tool.
Or use this work sheet to guide you:
An activity to help you develop your search strategy.
Find trade journal articles, eBooks, newspaper articles, and more in the databases linked below. These links will take you to high quality search engines that will help you find the resources you need.Search all of our databases at once using the Library's Summon tool!
Or search these databases individually!
Sometimes you need material that can't be found online. The Library catalog at CCCC has books, movies, and other media available for checkout.
*Helpful hint: if you can't find the tile or author you're looking for in a CCCC Library, try selecting "All CCLINC Libraries" from the drop down menu to see if you can find it in another community college in North Carolina. If so, we can place a hold and get the book for you in a few days!
University Libraries Learning (UNC Chapel Hill). "Research Tutorial Starting Your Search in the Right Place." YouTube, 9 Aug. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8kTXSd5jLE.
Yavapai College Library.. "What Are Databases and Why You Need them." YouTube, 29 Sept. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2GMtIuaNzU&t=5s.
LibNCSU (North Carolina State University). "Peer Review in 3 Minutes." YouTube, 1 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCQZ7QnoN0&t=1s.
What's in them?
The results of a study, experiment, or any other kind of disciplined scholarly research.
Who writes them?
Scholars: faculty, researchers, laboratory staff, and graduate students.
Helpful hint! Look for a University Affiliation in the author's bio in an article. If they work at a university or college, they're probably a scholarly author!
Who reads them?
Other researchers in the field, including students just learning about research and professors working on their own areas of study within the field.
When should you use them?
What do they look like?
What's in them?
Who writes them?
Who reads them?
When should you use them?
What do they look like?
What's in them?Who writes them?Who reads them?
When should you use them?What do they look like?